Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and affording me, on behalf of the Minister, an opportunity to respond.

In the context of the implementation of hospital groups the range of services currently available in Waterford Regional Hospital, including coronary care, will be retained and enhanced. The hospital's cardiology department provides the regional service for 500,000 people and offers a comprehensive range of invasive and non-invasive diagnostic services. Deputies will acknowledge that considerable achievements have been made since the Waterford Regional Hospital cardiology interventional suite opened in May 2008 on a two-day per week basis. In October 2009, the operation of the service was extended to five days per week and incorporated a dedicated six-bed cardiac day ward.

The regional cardiac catheterisation laboratory in Waterford Regional Hospital provides equal access to services from the four acute hospitals in the region. Since its establishment, the laboratory has provided access to cardiac angiography and complex cardiac cases for 8,255 patients and 11,890 procedures. These patients would otherwise have had to travel to either Cork or Dublin to receive services.

In 2013, 1,709 patients were seen and 2,404 procedures undertaken. Patients presenting with an acute myocardial infarction to Waterford Regional Hospital can now receive emergency percutaneous coronary artery intervention, PCI, to open the blocked artery immediately and limit the damage to the heart muscle.

Since October 2012, the Waterford Regional Hospital interventional suite has been identified as the designated primary percutaneous coronary intervention centre as part of the national acute coronary syndrome programme covering counties Waterford, Kilkenny and Wexford and south County Tipperary. The Minister understands the hospital intends to develop a fourth consultant post as part of its operational plan for 2015. Furthermore, a business case to extend the opening hours of the cardiac catheterisation laboratory is being prepared by the hospital with a view to providing primary percutaneous coronary artery intervention on a 24-7 basis and developing a second cardiac catheterisation laboratory.

The establishment of hospital groups is a key building block in delivering on the programme for Government commitment to fundamentally reform the health service and will provide the optimum configuration for hospital services to deliver high quality, safe patient care in a cost-effective manner. Waterford Regional Hospital, as a key hospital in the south-south west hospital group, will have significant finks to the group's academic partner, University College Cork, which will provide opportunities for sharing of experiences and expertise as well as furthering the research agenda.

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